Report that it's there. Include a photo. Look for market date to establish the impact on value, if any. When you don't find any say something like 'No market data were found to establish the impact on value, if any, of the sewer lift pump located on the subject property. In the absence of suitable data, the appraisal is based on the assumption that the sewer pump has no impact on the value of the subject property.

BTW, one possible way to come up with an adjustment is to look at the prior sale of the subject and pair it with another sale from the same time period. Like the old appraiser said, 'Base it on something. It doesn't have to be something good. It just has to be something.'

According to the company that maintains this booger:
Last major spill was in 2007, before the county requirement for 24/7 monitoring equipment. Until this equipment was installed, the pump was checked once every 24-hour period. If the system failed in the interim, there was no way of knowing until someone notified the company, usually the home owner. In 2007, when the system failed, the home owner chose to call everyone but the maintenance company, reportedly in attempt to get someone in trouble - the maintenance company was finally notified after 6 hours and remedied the issue, but that was 6 hours of sewage meandering down the yard and to the side of the house and beyond... Interesting story.

Without a doubt, this pump station negatively affects the saleability of this property - many buyers wouldn't consider living downhill from potential disaster - they'd take one look at the pump system and walk away. But, some wouldn't care - they'd see that nearly incomparable golf course view out back and nothing else.

I have a difficult time justifying/supporting an adjustment other than in relation to a significant increase in marketing time.

From what I can tell in talking to the owner of the pump station maintenance company, previous owners of this home purchased the property under the assumption that they could live with the pump station, only to discover after time that it was always there, breathing down their necks, threatening to douse their paradise in flowing pungent liquidity... I imagine future buyers will encounter a similar scenario.

Report that it's there. Include a photo. Look for market date to establish the impact on value, if any. When you don't find any say something like 'No market data were found to establish the impact on value, if any, of the sewer lift pump located on the subject property. In the absence of suitable data, the appraisal is based on the assumption that the sewer pump has no impact on the value of the subject property.

BTW, one possible way to come up with an adjustment is to look at the prior sale of the subject and pair it with another sale from the same time period. Like the old appraiser said, 'Base it on something. It doesn't have to be something good. It just has to be something.'

Does it serve only the one house? If so, the chance of an overflow is very small. Most of the overflows of pump stations on municipal system are related to storm water infiltration during power outages.

Each home in the development has its own grinder pump - basically emaciates raw sewage into a more liquid form then pumps it to one of the two main pumping stations. The station in question is one of these main stations.

There are 477 homes in the development, plus the golf course. So, this pumping station services approximately half properties in the development and has a multitude of bodily artifacts passing through it at any given moment.

From what I gather, the chance of overflow is minimal. But. In this day and time, even minimal odds must be carefully considered, since it seems the question is no longer "if?" but "when?"

Does it serve only the one house? If so, the chance of an overflow is very small. Most of the overflows of pump stations on municipal system are related to storm water infiltration during power outages.

Almost all sewer systems in municipal locations have some pump stations as it is not possible to use gravity in all cases. You might want to call the local municipality and/or any private companies that handle these systems, get the locations of their other stations and do some research on historic sales in close proximity.

Each home in the development has its own grinder pump - basically emaciates raw sewage into a more liquid form then pumps it to one of the two main pumping stations. The station in question is one of these main stations.

There are 477 homes in the development, plus the golf course. So, this pumping station services approximately half properties in the development and has a multitude of bodily artifacts passing through it at any given moment.

From what I gather, the chance of overflow is minimal. But. In this day and time, even minimal odds must be carefully considered, since it seems the question is no longer "if?" but "when?"

Click to expand...

All true, however consider that

If the pump fails, not just the nearby property owners but everyone in the development will experience sewage backup.

There are so many lift stations in this area that they are not an issue. Most of them however, are totally below ground with only a flat concrete pad about 10 x 20 and 2 or three access slightly panels above grade. The one in the photo is pretty unsightly, however I do see a filter for the vent so the odors should be minimal, if any.

These stations are all built with backup pumps so if the primary goes out, the second will kick in. Besides, if all of the neighbors utilize grinder pumps, if the power goes out nothing will be flowing to the lift station so the chance of overflow is extremely small.

In addition, they are all equipped with radio transmitters to signal a problem to the main office and when the red trouble light starts flashing there's usually a repair truck there in about 30 minutes.

It could probably be blocked completely from view with $2500 in landscaping and from what I've encountered, out of sight is out of mind. Also what I've encountered is that what one person considers an adverse external influence is not a big issue to many others. You might find that its not so much the value that's affected as the number of potential buyers.

Gold Supporting Member

4

Jan 16, 2002

Professional Status:

Certified Residential Appraiser

State:

Tennessee

You know this thing has already failed once. If it fails again, and turds float around the house, and anyone there ever gets sick with anything that might not even have anything to do with the turd tide, you're going to have a target on your back from Mr. Turd Lawyer.

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